Training materials for professional posts

Police officers on professional posts have access to all United Nations mandatory and voluntary training materials.

In addition, the Police Division is developing a United Nations Police Commanders course, targeting senior police leaders. It will lay the foundation for better trained United Nations Police Commanders.

Rationale for the course

United Nations police commanders deploy to multidimensional peacekeeping operations and special political missions that are fundamentally different from their domestic policing contexts. This requires them to lead and manage police operations, and to forge relationships with elements that may not ordinarily interface in a domestic setting.

As a result, United Nations police commanders need to be competent to lead multi-cultural teams and be well versed in strategic planning, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation, project management and oversight, gender and environmental mainstreaming, human rights integration into planning and operations, strategic communication and outreach, community engagement, international police cooperation and operating in multi-dimensional environments.

A two-day United Nations Police Commanders’ Course curriculum development workshop with 70 participants from 15 Member States, six partner organizations and Heads of UN police components in UN peace operations took place on 24 and 25 May at the United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC) in Brindisi, Italy. During the workshop participants provided input to curriculum and guidance for the development of the police commanders' course content and material.

“By developing the Police Commanders Course curriculum we will fill one of the last missing pieces in the senior leadership architecture for peacekeeping and special political missions. Coming out of this course we should be able to have people who are proficient in the implementation of the Strategic Guidance Framework as well as proficient in thinking about police operations within broader political context of mandate implementations”.

Mark Pedersen, Chief of the Integrated Training Services (ITS)

Launch of the Police Commanders course

The validation workshop for the course is planned in the first quarter of 2018 for current heads of United Nations police components. Following their feedback and adjustments, the first course will be offered to candidates who have been selected for the Senior Police Leadership Roster in mid-2018.